With new federal laws affording Native Americans more control over their mineral resources, the Crow tribe and others around the United States could more easily develop their assets.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has long been excited about the potential effects of coal development on the energy market—particularly on coal-to-liquids technology, that could provide fuel for automobiles.

“Why wouldn’t we create an economic engine that will take us into the next century, and let those sheiks and dictators and rats and crooks from all over the world boil in their own oil?” Schweitzer asked.

Montana’s Crow tribe is considering building a coal-to-liquids plant that would process its coal resources. “We’re not just trying to help ourselves today,” said Joanie Rowland, director of the tribe’s nascent energy program. “We want to set up the reservation so that it will prosper and help the future generations.”

Montana’s Governor Brian Schweitzer has been an eager supporter of coal development in the United States. In Montana, which has billions of tons of unmined coal, he’s pushed for a coal-to-liquids plant that would pressurize coal into a gas and then convert it into a clean diesel fuel. “He says flat out that his plan will change the world,” writes “60 Minutes.” “The reason this works and is much cleaner is you’re not burning coal. You’re instead gasifying coal,” explains Dr. Robert Williams, an energy scientist at Princeton.

The Sierra Club paints a less pretty picture of coal. “Even though coal-to-liquids plants have been around since World War II, the truth is that liquid coal is not a practical way to lessen our dependence on oil,” the group claims. “Liquid coal plants are costly and complex, requiring huge investments to produce even the smallest amount of synthetic fuels.” The organization encourages further development of renewable energy resources, and increased fuel efficiency standards.

“Policymakers like to talk about the need for alternative energy sources—solar and wind power, geothermal energy, natural gas, nuclear power and conservation. But those alternatives, though helpful, aren’t enough to meet growing demand for electricity in increasingly digitalized economies,” stated J. Allen Wampler, a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Another energy program aimed at helping Native Americans develop their resources is the Tribal Energy Program, operated under the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.